Posted: July 16, 2007

Triathlon: Cave aims for Ironman triathlon glory

Leanda Cave, the 2002 World Triathlon Champion added the Long Distance title to her list of accolades as she convincingly won in Lorient, France at the weekend. Having accomplished the double she is now looking forward to a new challenge, the Ironman. The athlete from Louth in Lincolnshire stepped up to long distance racing last year and has enjoyed notable successful with victories across the USA, including the prestigious Escape from Alcatraz race in San Francisco. On crossing the line at the weekend Cave admitted that she had come to France with only one goal, to win. "I always wanted to win the Long Distance World Champs, and now I just have one more goal, to go and win the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii", she said. The World Long Distance Championships were held over a 3000m swim, 80km cycle and 20km run, but Cave will have to increase her training to undertake a monstrous 4km swim, 180km cycle and 42km marathon if she wants to succeed at the Ironman distance. No Brit has ever won the Ironman World Championships, but Cave certainly has the pedigree, determination and ability to make history and be the first. "The Ironman is at the pinnacle of long distance triathlon racing and it's just something every triathlete wants to do. But I don't just want to complete it, I want to win it!" she said. The 2007 Ironman World Championships are held at Kona, Hawaii on 13th October. Women's ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships Results: 1. Leanda Cave, Great Britain 2. Erika Csomor, Hungary 3. Catriona Morrison, Great Britain - 5. Chrissie Wellington, Great Britain 14. Yvette Grice, Great Britain About British Triathlon The British Triathlon Federation is the National Governing Body for triathlon, the UK's fastest growing sport. At elite level we are striving for Olympic success and currently boast the current world champion in Tim Don, current World Under 23 Champion in Will Clarke and current World Junior Champion, Alistair Brownlee. Looking towards 2012 and beyond, British Triathlon has emerging some outstanding young talent from its youth programmes. Since becoming an Olympic sport in 2000, British Triathlon has seen large annual membership increases and now totals over 10,000 members throughout its Home Nation Associations. There are over 500 triathlon events conducted in Great Britain each year including the London Triathlon, the largest triathlon event in the World; and the BG Triathlon World Cup race in Salford, one of the leading international events. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest